News

Secretary Haaland kicked off a week-long visit to the Pacific Islands today in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, where she highlighted the Biden-Harris administration’s ongoing commitment to protecting and investing in the natural and cultural resources of the U.S. territory. 

The Department of the Interior today announced new steps to revise the Bureau of Land Management’s oil and gas leasing regulations, which would ensure a balanced approach to development, provide a fair return to taxpayers and ensure that drilling does not conflict with protection of important wildlife habitat or cultural sites.

The Department of the Interior announced today it will hold the first-ever offshore wind energy lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, advancing the Biden-Harris administration’s work to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by 2030 and reach a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035.

The Department of the Interior today announced that Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation Michael Brain has been named Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science. Michael succeeds Tanya Trujillo who was sworn in as Assistant Secretary for Water and Science on June 25, 2021, and announced her resignation, effective July 17, 2023.

The Department of the Interior today announced the availability of $120 million in funding through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help Tribal communities plan for the most severe climate-related environmental threats to their homelands.

Today, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, Environmental Protection Agency Chief of Staff Dan Utech, and other key stakeholders participated in a “Good Jobs in the Clean Economy” event with labor, conservation and environmental justice leaders to discuss how their agencies are collaborating to create good quality jobs in infrastructure, clean energy, manufacturing and technology as part of the President’s Investing in America agenda.

The Department of the Interior and the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) today announced a new partnership that will increase employment opportunities for Alaska Native youth across the Department’s offices and bureaus.

During a visit to Montana today, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau announced a $185 million investment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support wildland fire management nationwide in fiscal year 2023 and to assist land managers in planning for wildfire management activities in fiscal year 2024.

Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz visited St. Louis, Missouri this week to highlight the President’s Investing in America agenda and new and increased funding through the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program (ORLP) that are restoring America’s lands and waters and expanding access to the outdoors.

Following a community roundtable discussion and site visits with Rep. Sharice Davids today, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced the availability of nearly $660 million in grant funding to clean up legacy pollution through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.